Starting Spiritual Practice
Must repentance assume I definitely did wrong in a past life I cannot remember?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
You need not treat unknown matters as definite personal wrongdoing. I have said past lives may or may not have involved mistakes. Not remembering does not turn possibility into knowledge.
Within faith, repentance can express willingness to face and change anything done poorly in the past. Visible matters in this life allow more concrete reflection: hurtful speech to family or insufficient understanding toward friends can reveal needed corrections.
Honesty matters more than continual fixation on unknown history. If you know a present fault, apologize seriously and change, making today better than yesterday. Such repentance connects with actual life.
In one case, before relaying a perceived story, Dao Xuan asked the woman to express not knowing what she had done before, but being truly sorry for anything wrong and willing to dedicate prepared merit. Later she said she genuinely wanted to apologize then. This was an experience in that religious ritual, not a requirement for everyone unaware of the past to accept a particular story as personal fact.
Dao Xuan and I also discussed that story details might not be verifiable and remained open to discussion. More confidently, we reminded people not to betray friends’ trust or treat promises casually. Understanding these reminders and changing now offers more practical learning than forcing admission of unknown details.